15 Suspicious Deaths in China Jails in 2009 Alone

The Supreme People’s Procuratorate has said that 15 people have died under suspicious circumstances while in police detention this year alone. From AFP:

Of the 15 reported cases, seven died of beatings, three were classified as suicides and two were described as accidents, procuratorate officials said on a videoconference call on Friday, according to the report.

The three remaining cases were still being investigated, it added.

Prosecutors were told that some of the deaths could have been prevented had they done their jobs properly, the report said.

China’s public security ministry has launched a three-month investigation into conditions in detention centres in response to mounting public anger over the recent deaths, including those of three teenagers.